1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnifying observation apparatus for photographing and displaying a magnified image such as a microscope, a method for observing a magnified image, and a computer-readable medium storing instructions for operating the magnifying observation apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Today, optical microscopes using optical lens or digital microscopes are in use as magnifying observation apparatus which display magnified micro-objects. A micro scope is equipped with a light receiving element such as a CCD for electrically reading, per pixel arranged two-dimensionally, a reflected light or a transmitted light from an observation subject fixed to an observation subject fixing section incident via an optical system. The microscope displays on a display section such as a display an image electrically read using a CCD (for example see the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-214790).
When observing a subject (work) such as an observation subject, it is necessary to adjust the observation conditions optimally in order to obtain a desired image. Setting items of observation conditions include the illumination method, brightness and angle. Typically, the user who operates a microscope manually replaces the illumination parts of the lens, controls the brightness of the illumination, or switches between illumination methods to check the effect of control while displaying the observation image on the monitor on a trial-and-error basis, thereby searching for observation conditions optimum for the work.
However, the method where the optimum observation conditions are searched for on a trial-and-error basis is highly cumbersome and time-consuming. Typically, only a single image can be displayed on the monitor. Thus, the required procedure is: 1) an observation image is displayed with certain observation conditions specified; 2) the observation image is evaluated; 3) the optimum observation conditions are specified; and 4) the observation image is displayed again. In this case, the observation image on the previous occasion is not stored so that the user must rely on his/her memory to predict more appropriate observation conditions based on comparison between the current observation image and the previous observation image. This procedure is repeated. The user predicts further optimum observation conditions based on his/her memory of the relationship between the parameters of the previous and second previous observation conditions and the images as well as states of changes. This makes the procedure extremely difficult. Moreover, the user needs expert knowledge on the performance of apparatus, photographing method, and meanings of parameters of the setting items in order to set the observation conditions. Thus, the above procedure is too difficult especially for a beginner. Accordingly, only the user having some degree of knowledge and experience can obtain the optimum observation results. Sufficient results cannot be obtained with insufficient observation conditions even when the performance of the microscope is excellent. Under present circumstances, the performance of the microscope used is not fully delivered in most cases.